STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Elected officials in Staten Island are looking to take the borough's fight against prescription drug abuse across state lines.

To that end, District Attorney Daniel Donovan, Assemblyman Michael Cusick and state Senator Andrew Lanza once again called for the NYS Department of Health to create an interstate drug database.

New York's "I-STOP" database, which gives physicians and pharmacists access to their patients' up-to-the-minute prescription history, launched last August to help curb overprescribing, 'doctor shopping' and 'pharmacy shopping' in New York State.

For a second time, elected officials on Staten Island are asking state health officials to link that database with other states, to prevent that sort of doctor and pharmacy shopping across state lines.

In a joint letter sent June 23 to state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard A. Zucker, Donovan, Cusick and Lanza have asked the commissioner to enter into "collective agreements with New York's neighboring states - New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Vermont - to monitor and share all controlled substance prescription activity," according to a statement from Donovan's office.

"I strongly urge the State Department of Health to take the next step and partner with New York's surrounding states to form a much-needed, multi-state prescription pill tracking database," Donovan said in the statement.

They decided to send another letter to the current health commissioner after an announcement by the governors of five New England states saying that they will explore and develop a new cross-border Prescription Monitoring Program as a way to combat increased opioid abuse and overdoses.

Said Assemblyman Cusick : "From our own community of Staten Island, three out of four bridges off the island lead into New Jersey, allowing drug abusers to easily 'doctor shop' across state lines. Downstate residents can effortlessly escape into New Jersey or Connecticut to seek additional prescriptions, while upstate residents can cross the border into Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, or Vermont. It is time for the Department of Health to close this interstate loophole."

Said Sen. Lanza: "We've taken strong action to combat opiate abuse in New York after signing into law a tool as important as I-STOP but now we must act together as one region to take on this challenge."